Canberra has responded to the growth in international and national business events in Australia with the newly refurbished state-of-the-art National Convention Centre, which re-opened this month (October). The ACT Government has invested $30 million in a major upgrade which will provide a power-house venue for the national and international market with unrivalled facilities, size and scope in the seat of power, Canberra. The centre officially opens on October 18, 2007. Matthew Young has been appointed general manager, Cindy Young is NCC manager and Paul Shaw has been appointed director of sales and marketing.
The team at Ovations is very excited at the launch of their new and improved website. Following viewer feedback it now offers a greater selection of speakers at a glance. Each time users visit the website (www.ovations.com.au) or refresh the home page new presenters are displayed in the featured speaker, featured trainer and speakers visiting Australia and New Zealand sections. Additional requests for more themed ideas have also been answered, with a preview section at the bottom of the homepage. Here Ovations offers their top selections for the hottest speakers on a chosen topic. The topic will change each month, kicking off with leadership - a topic that has been, and will continue to be, requested for a wide range of events and forums.
Show organisers for this year’s MEETING MART tradeshow in Melbourne have launched a revamped and re-energised program. The day’s program is action-filled with highlights including: showcase events, hosted breakfasts and luncheons along with the cocktail event and educational programs. With more than 130 exhibitors from across regional Victoria and Melbourne, Meeting Mart 2007 will provide those people who arrange conferences, events and meetings a valuable opportunity to see the best of what Victoria has to offer! In BIG news, the AUSAE 2007 Conference will be held on-site at Meeting Mart 2007.The event will be held on October 30, 2007 at the Melbourne Park Function Centre. For further information visit www.conferenceworks.net.au or email events@conferenceworks.net.au.
 Amelia Hannaford of Hannaford Events pictured in Port Douglas in the “Beach Shack”, a casual restaurant she’s running where guests feel the sand between their toes. The venue, just metres from Four Mile Beach, is available for groups and is an alternative to Hannaford’s “Flames of the Forest”, the rainforest dinner which grew from the incentive events run by Hannafords in the 1990s. Flames Of The Forest caters for groups as well as the independent tourist market, and retails around the $195 mark for the dinner and show.
Brisbane-based event company, LOUD events, is assisting companies reduce their carbon footprints while staging events. LOUD events are currently rolling out a pilot program to assist their clients identify key business opportunities to better manage and reduce their energy and greenhouse gas event emissions. By conducting energy audits of each of their events / conferences, LOUD are able to calculate a “carbon neutral” status through a comprehensive energy and emission management plan. LOUD have structured the programs so that either the company can pick up the cost of offsetting carbon credits or alternatively, this cost can be packaged into the delegate ticket price, meaning the program does not necessary have to be a direct cost to the corporation.
The Business Events Council of Australia (BECA) has called on the Federal Government to provide an immediate increase in Tourism Australia’s funding to address the country’s serious decline in international conventions and business meetings. The Amsterdam-based International Congress and Convention Association (ICCA) has previously reported that business event delegate numbers to Australia declined by 11 per cent in the 10 year period from 1996. A new study released recently by the UN-linked Union of International Associations (UIA), has shown a 31.5 per cent fall in the number of global conferences held in Australia since 2001. BECA Chairman, Geoff Donaghy said these reports were very concerning but confirmed what major convention and exhibition operators have known for some time. “We have seen an increasing number of countries out-spending, out-marketing and out-performing Australia in targeting these highly sought after business event attendees who spend up to five times more per day than holidaying tourists.”
AV industry upstarts Scene Change opened office number four in Sydney in September. “The response to the first three offices show that clients like a bit of free choice in their AV, so we felt it was time to bring it to a major market,” said director Peter Kolevas. Local partner in Scene Change Sydney is Vicken Hekimian, former regional director of operations at Staging Connections and a respected 15 year veteran of the industry. “I was really attracted to the idea of building a smaller, close knit team where the crew feel a real sense of ownership of their show,” he said. Like other Scene Change offices, Sydney will offer a purely technical service, preferring to leave creative, decoration and styling services to other specialist suppliers. “We’re working with a lot of event producers who want to feel secure that we’re not trying to muscle in on their turf,” said Mr Hekimian.
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